Venezuela nabs three for Mexican envoy's abduction

Caribbean Herald (IANS) Monday 6th February, 2012

Three people who abducted and later released Mexican Ambassador Carlos Pujalte and his wife Jan 29 in Venezuela have been arrested, a minister said.

Among those arrested is "the head of the criminal band who participated in the ambassador's kidnapping", Venezuela's Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami said.

He said five other people involved in the couple's abduction have been identified and are being sought by Venezuelan security forces.

"From the moment when we learned of the deeds, we have not rested ... We have identified those who participated in the kidnapping," the minister told Union Radio.

Pujalte and wife Paloma Ojeda were kidnapped shortly after midnight when they left a reception in a residential neighbourhood in northern Caracas.

Pujalte, an attorney and career diplomat, and his wife were held by their four male and "heavily armed" captors for four hours but they were then released in the Las Mayas sector in western Caracas.

Pujalte's kidnapping came two months after the Chilean consul in Caracas, Juan Carlos Fernandez, was shot, beaten, threatened and held hostage for two hours.

Venezuela has a homicide rate of 48 per 100,000 residents and Caracas is considered one of the most dangerous cities in Latin America.

--IANS/EFE

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